Mining tax to drive up foreign resources ownership: Forrest

Update Mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has backed calls by Greens leader Bob Brown for a greater share of ownership of the industry by Australians but parted ways on the means of achieving it.

Mr Forrest told a mining conference in Perth that the government's new mining tax unfairly favoured foreign mining giants over local start-ups, saying Australians would "need passports to visit our kids" if they wanted to see Australian mining firms in action in the future.

Mining billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' ForrestCredit:AFR

The comments follow Senator Brown's warning that the nation's mining sector is 83 per cent foreign-owned and shipping profits out of Australia, citing findings from a commissioned report. Mr Brown has said he would look to widen the mining tax to include uranium and gold, and possibly seek a higher tax rate.

Mr Forrest, though, countered the Greens leader, telling a resources conference in Perth that approving the mining tax would do more to take Australia's mining wealth overseas than foreign investment in mining companies.

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The mining magnate said Australia had large amounts of minerals but small amounts of capital, and without foreign money, those minerals would stay in the ground and never turn into projects, jobs, royalties and wealth.

Mr Forrest said his preference was for foreign capital to make up a minority shareholding in Australian-owned and controlled companies, but ultimately, he thought it was better the minerals got developed rather than remaining untapped.

He said the real concern for mining wealth going overseas was the design of the Mineral Resources Rent Tax, which he said favoured big multinational companies like BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Xstrata. The three mining giants were central to the government's revised version of the proposed tax.

''It's absolutely proper and correct that a country which is under-capitalised compared to its potential, like Australia is, raises capital overseas. If we continue to allow the MRRT to only be levied against the junior sector, then what we know for sure will happen is 100 per cent of our earnings will go overseas."

Mr Forrest said the tax would prevent small Australian companies from gaining a foothold on the industry.

He said Australians with children working in the mining sector should "learn other languages" and join frequent-flyer programs because multinationals would be the employers.